Almost 5 years ago, Estelle & Magan met at a wedding — where M was the photographer and E was a bridesmaid for her best friend's big day. We talked about books for under five minutes, and a friendship was born.

Since then, we’ve shared our love of books, Zac Efron, and shopping on this blog, changed jobs, had babies, moved, visited DC and Disney World together, and constantly stayed connected -- despite the miles between us. RBR has been the our own version of a coffee date, our way to mark the time before we can hang out and gab in person again. Thanks for spending time with us. xoxo

Category Archives: Feature

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! Whether you love or loathe this holiday, you’re here today because of one common love: reading. We’re thrilled to host Kieran Scott today (you may know her as Kate Brian), who released the final book in the wonderful, charming, funny TRUE LOVE trilogy. Cupid is punished and banished to NJ where […]

Jessica D -Anything by Jane Austen! The end of Persuasion gets me every time…

February 15, 2015 - 2:15 pm

SweetMarie83-My favourite real life love story is my parents’, and my favourite fictional one is Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. 🙂

February 15, 2015 - 12:27 am

Alexa S.-I loved reading Kieran’s love story for this post! It seriously is such a charming tale, and I’m so happy for her <3

February 14, 2015 - 9:32 pm

bn100 -pride and prejudice

February 14, 2015 - 7:49 pm

Cassidy -This book was so sweet and amazing, I couldn’t stop reading it. I read it on my kindle and I’m pretty sure I ruined my eyesight for reading on the screen for hours everyday but I don’t regret it at all!

February 14, 2015 - 1:57 pm

Siobhain -My favorite love story the notebook! Nicholas sparks is so talented and can watch this movie so many times and cry every time

February 14, 2015 - 12:03 pm

Lisa @ Reading, Writing, and Random Musings-As someone who is newly unexpectedly single, I love to hear stories of how you just never know when you will meet the person you are destined to be with! Thanks for sharing such a heart warming story on such a heart warming day!

I’m glad I’m not alone. Like Brittany, I am a happily married person who also thinks Valentine’s Day is the worst. I always felt like many of the boys I knew (not my husband) thought of it as some obligation and never much thought into it. Why did they have to? They could easily pick […]

Alexa S.-Totally agree that love should be expressed at any and all times possible, and not just Valentine’s Day! (Also, not a big roses fan here either. I love sunflowers best!) Hope you have a lovely Valentine’s Day anyway!

February 7, 2015 - 12:10 am

Jaime Lester-I am a 30 something, who is incredibly happily married, and my husband and myself don’t usually even remember its Valentine’s Day until the day is long gone. We can enjoy our beer (he’s a budweiser man, I am a flitter- gotta try them all!), have a romantic night at home, have a great time, any time of any day! This book sounds awesome. Going to check it out right now!

February 6, 2015 - 1:57 pm

Brittany @ The Book Addict's Guide-AMBER ;D I get it!!!
I bought this book because of you! I saw it at the thrift store and remembered your lovely words about it so I grabbed it for myself! Love hearing more about it. Looking forward to it even more!!

February 6, 2015 - 12:00 pm

Jade @ Bedtime Bookworm-Yeah, we don’t really do V-day either – it may have started out as something sweet, but it’s morphed into an agent of the consumer world we live in. It’s all about spending money now, not about love!

When I first picked when I Was Here by Gayle Forman (my review) a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the main characters had graduated from high school with one of them attending a college away from home and the other going a completely different route. I realized that I’ve always been […]

molly @ wrapped up in books-I love this list. There are a bunch more of these out there, and I love lots of the “just after high school” or “beginning of college” stories. I feel like there are so many stories to explore at this time in life. I’m with Emma — I wish “new adult” would evolve into more of this instead of the romance/erotica/fanfic-y stories that seem to dominate that category. I need to read more of these.

I also love that you linked to that YALSA white paper. I was just discussing how dated it is, but still relevant (if that makes sense) with a group of YA librarians.

March 15, 2015 - 12:16 am

Retrospectively Reading (13) | The Reading Shelf-[…] “Young Adult Books & After High School” @ Rather Be Reading: As a college student, especially one who’s been struggling with a lot of anxiety due to college, it’s great reading about characters going through similar problems, and so I definitely want to check out some of the books on Estelle’s list that I haven’t already read. […]

February 21, 2015 - 9:27 am

Brittany @ The Book Addict's Guide-Still a bunch of these I need to read (and some that I own!) but all of the ones I’ve read, I’ve loved. I really enjoy the moments after high school. I honestly think that’s the time I did most of my growing up and where I changed the most as a person so I’m starting to latch on to more post-HS and college stories! 🙂

February 8, 2015 - 5:26 pm

Vlora @ Reviews and Cake-OMG THANK YOU. I didn’t even know I needed this, but I DO. I love Young Adult mucho, but I mostly find books on the “younger” end of young adult, as in teenagers who are usually 16-17. If I had never heard of the genre before, I’d assume that young adult books are about young adults as in people between 18 and their early twenties. I guess New Adult is supposed to fill that gap, but I haven’t really read any new adult books yet, and most I’ve heard of didn’t really appeal to me. Anyways, I’M in my early twenties and at university, so I’d absolutely love to read some young adult books with characters of a similar age. I read Fangirl and I LOVED it. I’ll check out all of the other books you mentioned – I’m sure I’ll find something to put on my to-read list. Thanks for putting this list together!

February 4, 2015 - 11:14 am

Elizabeth-The first book I thought of when I saw this topic was Something Like Normal… loved that one! I’m really curious about I’ll Meet You There and Breathe Annie Breathe.

February 4, 2015 - 6:13 am

Natalie @ Flowers in my Books-I’ve got to be honest, when I read YA I rarely think about whether the MC is in College or High School. In fact I think I only just realised that Fangirl is YA and set in College and it’s one of my favourite books.

I definitely like it when the characters are a bit older, since I’m turning 18 in a few months it’s nice to read about the college experience and know that that’s what I’ll be doing soon (although probably not as dramatic as some books make it out to be).

Thanks for this post, I’ll definitely be checking out some of these books on GoodReads! 🙂

February 3, 2015 - 11:49 pm

Bruna-Oh, that’s nice idea! When you’re a bit older, reading about college experiences resonate more, at least that’s how it works for me. Not that I don’t enjoy the high school novels, but yeah, college is definitely more of a self-discovery period. I’ll be adding some books from this list to my tbr.

February 3, 2015 - 10:23 pm

Alexa S.-Love this post, E! It’s always a pretty great thing, in my opinion, to read novels that feature characters fresh out of high school about to go to college. And the suggestions in this post are really good ones too! I’ve read a good number of them, and can totally vouch for them 😉

February 3, 2015 - 4:25 pm

Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity-Thank you for this post. It’s so nice to see a post with YA books that are set beyond High School, because sometimes you want a YA read, but you’re just not feeling the high school scene. It’s good to see a bunch of different books which approach life after school, because that period of time is messy and complicated and it’s not like you magically go from high school to real adult, there should be more of that awkward finding yourself middle period of life that seems to last forever.

February 3, 2015 - 10:53 am

Emma @ Miss Print-I love this list! These are the types of books that I wish comprised NA instead of just romance. I always call these books “emerging adult” titles in my head lol. It’s also a murky area where sequels like The Piper’s Son or Megan McCafferty’s later novels in (maybe after Second Helpings?) follow YA characters out of high school.

Happy 40th anniversary to Natalie Babbitt and the brilliant Tuck Everlasting! I can still remember the impact this book had on my 6th grade class when we read it for the first time. After years of school and piles and piles of books, there are only a few titles that really stick with you, aren’t […]

Alexa S.-“I want to live quality days, every day. I want to remember to appreciate the special moments. And most importantly, I wouldn’t have to live a life where I had to be any less open, or less likely to connect with others because of a secret circumstances like everlasting life.” – This is such a beautiful way of putting this sentiment, E. Love, love, LOVE it. And I feel the same way!

January 30, 2015 - 2:33 pm

Cassie (Happy Book Lovers)-I ADORE this book, and it’ll always be one of my favorites! I almost went to the signing but my train got stuck, and I ended up missing it! But I totally agree with your answers. It’d be cool to see stuff, but I’m okay having an ending to my life. 🙂

You hear a lot of people talk about turning 30. When my husband had this birthday two years ago, he was a little freaked out and he (the kind guy he is) keeps reminding me of this now. I’m slowly but surely getting to that birthday (about two weeks to go) and I’m not going […]

Alexa S.-I’ve been eyeing this same Saturday satchel, E! It’s so cute, isn’t it? I really, really hope you get it for your birthday 😉 Everything else in this post is totally cute too, and I’m particularly fond of those gorgeous earrings!

January 22, 2015 - 10:27 pm

Lindsay @ The Book Baby-I swear by retail therapy! My favorite blushes are from Mac and Nars, but a Milani “Luminoso” is a good drugstore one!

January 19, 2015 - 12:12 am

Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight-I am with Brianna- 30 wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be, but 31 and 32 have been HARD. I loved the quote in the article you shared by Alice Munro: “Writer Alice Munro once described your early 30s as “an age at which it is sometimes hard to admit that what you are living is your life.””. It is really true. I think if you are in a good place now, you’ll probably have an easy transition to 30. I wasn’t, and I am not, and I think that is when things get dicey.

Also, I LOVE the bag 😉 Happy early birthday, I hope you have an absolutely lovely day, and new decade!

January 18, 2015 - 7:07 pm

tabithasbookblog-That purse is great!! I’ve recently discovered Kate Spade (I don’t know why I’ve been so behind), and i’m obsessed. I just bought a card holder wallet. I don’t know the exact term, but I’m in love with it. and before a big day I browse stores. Whenever I’m in a mood or have something to think about I browse. It’s been too cold to go for walks, so browsing has been my go to lately.

January 18, 2015 - 4:46 pm

elena-that purse is cuuuuute!!! i don’t really remember what yr old kate spade looked like though bc awful memory. I WANT TO SEE.

January 18, 2015 - 1:20 pm

Brianna-30 was easy. It’s the subsequent years that have been more difficult. I’ll be 33 this year and I can’t handle it. Everything in my life is in limbo and I have all the anxiety.

I’ve had two of my best friends in my life since we were in Mrs. Grader’s kindergarten class — 25 years ago this year. Over the years, we were never consistantly inseparable (it’s difficult when you all go to different colleges and move to new cities) but for whatever cosmic reason, we take on the […]

Crystal-I am excited that there are so many people interested in diversifying their reading and encouraging more diversity in the publishing world. Thanks for hosting this great reading challenge!

January 26, 2015 - 9:09 am

Ann-I’ve been reading books that reflect diversity in spirituality for the past three weeks. Many of the ideas resonated with me, and I hope to be able to live a life as full and diverse as reflected in what I’ve read.

Having two daughters who were adopted from China makes me acutely aware of cultural diversity; and the importance of introducing and accepting a variety of beliefs and practices into our lives.

January 23, 2015 - 4:13 pm

Alexa S.-I loved reading this post, E! And your friends are totally good sports. It’s great to see that, for all of you, you easily embrace PEOPLE (as opposed to limiting yourselves because they’re “different”). Even though when I was in high school, I was mostly surrounded by fellow Filipinos, I’d like to think we were encouraged to be open-minded with all the different cultural projects (nationwide and worldwide) that we were givn to do. YAY FOR DIVERSITY!

Brianna-I’m Jewish, but I don’t think my friendships are so diverse now that I’m an adult. My two closest friends are also Jewish and we have similar backgrounds. I tend to gravitate toward other Jewish people and I’m very strong in my faith. I do think we need more books with diverse characters, though, because the generation of kids growing up now probably don’t have friendships like you have. I know my former camp kids certainly don’t. They go to private Jewish schools and Jewish summer camp. That’s their bubble.

January 13, 2015 - 7:50 pm

Cassie (Happy Book Lovers)-You are wonderful 🙂 I loved this post so much, and I love the focus on friendship. I grew up in the Midwest, and there was not a ton of diversity in my schools (any of them) at all. In fact, it was a big deal when a few black students showed up in our high school. But everyone was so friendly and embracing. It was like all the kids finally were so excited to accept the diversity, and our area just hadn’t seen it yet. My brother became good friends with one of the kids his age, and to this day still goes to visit him even though they go to different colleges. I think that’s the cool thing about young people and kids, too. They’re genuine, and they don’t care about backgrounds or social status or anything like that. They just have friendships. I’m so excited to be in a city with so many different people now! I’m loving it!

January 13, 2015 - 11:23 am

Nisha -I love it! You did such a great job! 🙂

January 13, 2015 - 8:29 am

Rebecca @ Reading Wishes-Also, I forget to mention in my tiredness: I love that you interviewed your friends and we got the hear from them! So great.

January 13, 2015 - 8:28 am

Rebecca @ Reading Wishes-I LOVE this post. I’m half Portuguese and my childhood friend is half Russian/half Italian and looking back at all the books I’ve read, I can’t remember seeing a friendship like ours represented. Until you mentioned it though, I didn’t notice the hole there was. It’s like, you become accustomed to it? I hope your list grows, too!